Types of Earthquake Faults
Descriptions of the three types of faults that cause earthquakes. Faults are categorized into three general groups based on the sense of slip or movement. Descriptions of the three types of faults that cause earthquakes.
Normal faults create space. Two blocks of crust pull apart, stretching the crust into a valley. The Basin and Range Province in North America and the East African Rift Zone are two well-known regions where normal faults are spreading apart Earth's crust.
A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each other. This movement may occur rapidly, in the form of an earthquake - or may occur slowly, in the form of creep. Faults may range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometers.
Other articles where Strike-slip fault is discussed: fault: Strike-slip (also called transcurrent, wrench, or lateral) faults are similarly caused by horizontal compression, but they release their energy by rock displacement in a horizontal direction almost parallel to the compressional force.